Diving equipment



Nov. 20, 1928. 1,692,591

H. STELZNER DIVING EQUIPMENT Filed Sept. 27, 1927 Invenfor kxP/wA/n 57.61. Zl/ER y flttorrzeys Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

* UNITED STATES;

ENT orri H'iima rrnn" same-ea,- or' coma, en'lmanxassroivon ToAnnxminnannaunann DRKG'ER; or Lennon, ennmanii Ewmenenaaeaa; use srrinenrr, nxEoUTRIXor' SAID DRAG-ER, DECEASED.

Divine EQUIPMENT."

Application filed September 27, 1927;SeriaLlN'o. 222,274 and in" Germany'octob'er 11, 1928.

For what may be termed dre-ssless diving equipment, as distinct from diving suits with their appurtenances, small breathing apparatas'or apphcances are used comprisln'g an air-gcnerator usually oarried'onthe chest and' a breathing bag located on the back at the height or: the shoulders. i

It has been found that there is some mcon venience in the use of this'kind of-e quipment about in a stooping position as is occasioned in searching, and which is necessary for the purpose of looking on the ground with the eyes close to the feet. The reasonwhy the buoyancy impedes such stooping w ll be well understood, particularly in consideration of the influence of the breathing bag, When it is taken into account that as soon as the diver, who is only burdened by weights on his legs, bends his body down, the buoyancy of the breathing bag will act with a leverage which corresponds substantially to the length of the upper part of the body, the fulcram lying on the loins of the diver. The driver thus can only effect a bending of the upper part of his body, while at the same time overcoming the moment of the thrust due to the buoyancy of the breathing appa rates. Even when the weights serving for burdening are notonl arranged on the le s, but also on the rim 0 the divers jacket, t e force distribution is not materially changed.

The object of the present invention is to overcome this difliculty, to facilitate the work of searching and also to reduce the burden of the weights on the legs and therefore buoyancy of the breathing bag, it would still be diflicult to walk about in an inclined position because of the thrust due to'the buoyancy 'Of the upper part of the body, which would still act with the leverage named together with the thrustdue to theotherparts of the breathing apparatus located on the chest, If however, this direct burdening of the breathing bag is used together with the Wreathlike or necklace-like weight the lat- I ter may be made correspondingly lighter so that it hangs more conveniently. In any case; when Il'litl l llg: use of the invention the.

weightson the feet, having, for,instance,;the,

shape of the usual iron sandals may be reduced to such an extent that they are only heavy enough to overcome the buoyancy of the legs, so that the diver can walk about Without special exertions of the muscles of the legs, which will give a further advantage.

In the accompanying drawing an arrangement according to the invention is shown by way of example.

Figure 1 is a View of the diving equipment applied to a diver, and

V Figure2 is a detail showing the breathing bag.

The diving apparatus consists by way of example of an air regenerator a (comprising for instance a potash-cartridge and oxygen cylinder), the breathing bag 6 and the breathing hose 0. In other respect the con-I struct-ion, of the equipment is optional and known and'need therefore not be described in detail. The arrow A signifies the direc tion of the thrust due to the buoyancy created by the breathing bag 6, which as is evident as soon as the diver inclines towards the front, acts on a leverage the length of which corresponds to that of the upper part of the body and the fulcrum lying at or in the vicinity of the loins. A similar'though corre Spondingly smaller buoyancy acts with this leverage at the height of the chest. In order to counteract both buoyancies, according to the present invention, a wreath or necklace of weights d is used, which is slippedv overthe head and consists of a heavy chain orof a leather hose filled with lead balls; the dire'ction of the force due to the weight of this chain or the like, acting evenly on the shoul ders and bearing on the breathing bag as well as onthe front part of the breathing apparatus and counteracting the buoyancy, is

indicated by the arrow B. The thrust to be overcome and thus also of the weight of the I former depends on the weight of the sandals which in this case need only be made so heavy, that the buoyancy of the legs is balanced, while the remaining buoyancy is balanced by the chain a. If the latter is to be reduced as to its weight, so as not to press too. hard, it is advisable toprovide the breathing bag I; with lead strips 9 on the seams, as is shown in Figure 2. I

It is evident, that by adapting the method of burdening or weighting as set forth the buoyancythrusts on walking in stooped position arebalanced directly at the place where they act by a thrust having the same leverage, that is to say by a thrust acting at the height of the shoulders, so that an inclination of the body towards the front will entail no effort by the diver to overcome the increased moment of the upward thrust due to the buoyancy of the breathing bag and the other elements mentioned above.

I claim:

- 1. In a dressless diving equipment, the

combination with a breathing apparatus arw ranged to be ositioned about the back and chest of the iver, of a Weighted necklace adapted to be worn by saiddiver so as to act combination with a breathing apparatus arat approximately the height of the shoulders to overcome the buoyancy of said apparatus when said diver is in stooping position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HERMANN STELZNER. 

